A Day to Remember Walk

A Day to Remember Walk

November 1, 2017, marks the ‘A Day to Remember’ walk for the seven Nishnawbe Aski Nation high school students who died in Thunder Bay from 2000-2011.

Reggie Bushie body was found in the McIntyre River on Nov. 1, 2007. The other students who died in Thunder Bay were Kasabonika’s Jethro Anderson, in 2000; Pikangikum’s Curran Strang, in 2005; Mishkeegogamang’s Paul Panacheese, in 2006; Keewaywin’s Robyn Harper, in 2007; Keewaywin’s Kyle Morrisseau, in 2009; and Webequie’s Jordan Wabasse, in 2011.

“It was just one of those moments where it just hits you,” says Nishnawbe Aski Nation Grand Chief, Alvin Fiddler, about Ricki Strang’s walk into the water. “It sure had an impact on those of us who witnessed that. It just shows that he still carries a heavy load and that’s something that we hope, through the ceremony today, that we can begin to address the grief and the loss that we all have.”

Julian Falconer, legal counsel for NAN, says the deaths of the seven high school students was “deeply devastating” to their families and communities. “For those of us who have worked, as I have, with Nishnawbe Aski Nation on this case for years, a piece of you is stuck with these kids and stuck with these issues,” Falconer says. “So today’s march was one way of paying tribute and respect for a very difficult set of losses.”